Cars

Cars is a 2006 animated film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution and directed by John Lasseter and co-directed by the late Joe Ranft. It was the seventh Disney/Pixar feature film, and the final film by Pixar before it was bought by Disney. The soundtrack of the film features music by Sheryl Crow, Rascal Flatts, James Taylor, Brad Paisley, Chuck Berry and John Mayer. Set in a world populated entirely by anthropomorphic cars and other vehicles, it features the voices of Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, Larry the Cable Guy, Tony Shalhoub, John Ratzenberger, George Carlin, Jenifer Lewis, Cheech Marin, Richard Petty and Michael Keaton as well as cameos by several celebrities such as Jeremy Clarkson.

It was nominated for two Academy Awards, including Best Animated Feature, and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film. It was released on DVD in November 2006 and on Blu-ray Disc in late 2007. Related merchandise, including scale models of several of the cars, broke records for retail sales of merchandise based on a Disney/Pixar film, with an estimated $5 billion in sales.

A sequel, Cars 2, was released in theaters on June 24, 2011.

Plot

The last race of the Piston Cup stock car racing season ends in a three-way dead heat between retiring veteran Strip "The King" Weathers, perennial runner-up and angry man Chick Hicks, and the happy rookie Lightning McQueen. A tiebreaker race is scheduled for one week later at the Los Angeles International Speedway. McQueen, eager to start practice in California as soon as possible in order to become Piston Cup champion and take The King's place as the sponsored car of the lucrative Dinoco team, pushes his driver Mack to travel all night long.

Mack tries (unsuccessfully) to avoid falling asleep, but becomes a victim of a gang of reckless street racers, subsequently causing the sleeping McQueen to roll out of the back of the truck unnoticed. Waking up in traffic, McQueen speeds off to find Mack, but mistakes a waste disposal tractor-trailer, a Peterbilt 362, for Mack, becomes lost and ends up in the run-down town of Radiator Springs. A mishap with the local sheriff causes McQueen to inadvertently tear up the town's main road. McQueen is promptly arrested, then tried the next day by the town's judge and doctor, Doc Hudson, who at first wants him to leave Radiator Springs immediately; but at the insistence of local lawyer Sally Carrera, Doc instead sentences him to repave the road as community service.

McQueen initially tries to rush through the job, but makes a sloppy, bumpy mess of the road and is forced to start over again. As the days pass, he becomes friends with many of the townsfolk, and learns that Radiator Springs was once a popular stopover along Route 66. However, the construction of interstate 40 pretty much forced cars to bypass the town to save 10 minutes of driving, thus causing many of the businesses and residents to leave. McQueen also discovers that Doc is actually the Fabulous Hudson Hornet, a three-time Piston Cup champion who was forced out of sight after a serious racing accident ended his career over 50 years ago.

Encouraged by his new friends and a countryside cruise with Sally, McQueen successfully completes the road and spends an extra day in town, visiting the local shops to outfit himself with new tires and equipment. That night, Mack and the media converge on the town, having been tipped off by Doc as to McQueen's whereabouts, and McQueen reluctantly sets off for California. Sally is upset with Doc for thinking only of himself and not everyone else in town when he called the media.

As the tie-breaker race begins, McQueen's thoughts keep drifting back to Radiator Springs and he is distracted from performing well. However, he is surprised to discover that his new friends have come along to serve as his pit crew, with Doc — once again outfitted in his old racing colors — as his crew chief. Heartened by their presence and Guido's incredible pit stop speed, and using tricks he learned during his time among them, McQueen is able to counter Chick driving tactics and take the lead of the race. On the final lap, Chick, fed up with being seen as the perennial loser, purposely rams The King, causing him to veer off the track and end up in a terrible wreck as deadly as the one that ended the career of the Fabulous Hudson Hornet.

McQueen sees the King wreck out, and stops just short of the finish line, letting Chick win. McQueen thinks back to Doc's career-ending shunt, then backs up to push The King the rest of the way across the line so he can finish his last race and retire with dignity. McQueen is praised by The King and his wife, Dinoco, the press and the crowd for his sportsmanship. The king is given as the winner. Lightning is offered the Dinoco sponsorship but turns it down, saying that he would rather stay with the team that brought him this far. McQueen returns to Radiator Springs and decides to move his team's headquarters there, helping to revitalize the town and its businesses, much to the pleasure of his new friends.

Voice Cast

Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen
Paul Newman as Doc Hudson
Bonnie Hunt as Sally Carrera
Larry the Cable Guy as Mater
Tony Shalhoub as Luigi
Cheech Marin as Ramone
Michael Wallis as Sheriff
George Carlin as Fillmore
Paul Dooley as Sarge
Jenifer Lewis as Flo
Guido Quaroni as Guido
Richard Petty as Strip "The King" Weathers
Michael Keaton as Chick Hicks
Katherine Helmond as Lizzie
John Ratzenberger as Mack
Joe Ranft as Red

Development

The original script (called The Yellow Car, about an electric car living in a gas-guzzling world) and some of the original drawings and characters were produced in 1998 and the producers agreed that Cars would be the next movie after A Bug's Life, and would be released in early 1999, particularly around June 4. However, that movie was eventually scrapped in favor of Toy Story 2. Later, production resumed with major script changes. In 2001, the movie's working title was Route 66 (after U.S. Route 66), but in 2002, the title was changed to prevent people from thinking it was related to the 1960 television show with the same name. Also, Lightning McQueen's number was originally going to be 57 (Lasseter's birth year), but was changed to 95 (the year Toy Story was released).

The Mattel-produced 1/55 scale Toy Cars were some of the most popular toys of the 2006 Summer Season. Over 300 characters are represented, with some having multiple versions available. Several stores had trouble keeping the toys in stock, and some models are still difficult to find because of being shipped in lower numbers than other characters. On August 14, 2007, the die-cast Sarge car, made between May and July 2007, was recalled due to "impermissible levels of lead" used in the paint. Another Cars product which followed the Disney-Pixar Cars Die-Cast Line were miniature versions of the characters which were painted in different colors to represent different events. These are called Disney-Pixar Cars Mini Adventures. Also, Lego will make some sets for the sequel.

Allusions

The word "Lightyear" on McQueen's tires symbolizes Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story movies. Also, McQueen's number is 95, which was the year the first Toy Story film was released (November 22, 1995).
The racing sponsor for The King (Dinoco) is the gas station in Toy Story where Woody and Buzz get left behind.
Mike Wazowski and Sulley appear in the end credits of Cars as a small car.